Maureen Galindo, the Texas Democratic congressional candidate who pledged to convert an immigration detention center into a prison for “American Zionists” and former ICE officers, lost her party’s primary runoff Tuesday night, ending a campaign that drew national condemnation and exposed deep divisions inside the Democratic Party.

Johnny Garcia, a former Bexar County sheriff’s deputy, defeated Galindo in the runoff for Texas’ 35th Congressional District, CBS News projected. He will face the winner of the Republican runoff between state Rep. John Lujan and Air Force veteran Carlos De La Cruz in November.

Galindo, a San Antonio therapist and housing activist, had finished first in the March primary with 29.2 percent of the vote, ahead of Garcia’s 27 percent in a four-way field. But her standing collapsed in the final weeks of the runoff after a series of social media posts and interviews in which she vowed to jail “billionaire Zionists,” accused a “cabal” of Jewish Zionists of controlling Hollywood, the media and local politics, and proposed turning the Karnes County Immigration Processing Center into a prison for Zionists and former ICE officers.

In one Instagram post, Galindo wrote that the facility would also serve as a “castration processing center for pedophiles, which will probably be most of the Zionists.” In a Texas Public Radio interview, she pledged to put Garcia on trial for treason, accusing him of participating in a human trafficking operation she said was run by Jewish billionaires.

Galindo denied the comments were antisemitic, insisting in social media videos that her objection was to Zionists, not Jews. “When I say that I want billionaire Zionists in prison, that does not mean I want Jews in internment camps,” she said in one video. “If you are a Zionist, meaning that you believe that you are just entitled to land … then yeah, I think you’re a danger to humanity and belong in prison.”

The remarks drew swift rebukes from Democratic leaders. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, called Galindo’s language “vile” and “disqualifying.” Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Jared Moskowitz of Florida said they would move to expel her from Congress every day she served if she were elected. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, also condemned the comments, as did Garcia.

ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s main fundraising platform, suspended donations to Galindo’s campaign in the final stretch of the race. The Jewish Federation of San Antonio condemned what it described as antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories. Garcia, who had earlier received Galindo’s endorsement after she eliminated him in a previous race, said he could no longer support her.

The runoff was complicated by a six-figure advertising campaign from a group called Lead Left PAC, which spent roughly $600,000 on broadcast and cable advertising and additional money on mailers boosting Galindo and attacking Garcia. The PAC’s funding sources have not been disclosed, and DCCC officials and other Democrats accused Republicans of propping up Galindo’s candidacy in hopes of facing a weaker general-election opponent in a district redrawn last year to favor the GOP. Galindo said she had no contact with the PAC and did not believe its support was offered in bad faith.

The 35th District was reshaped during Texas Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting push in 2025, shifting it away from its previous Austin-to-San Antonio configuration into a new map covering parts of San Antonio and stretching into Guadalupe, Wilson and Karnes counties. The redrawn district would have voted for President Donald Trump by roughly 10 points in 2024, even as it remains majority Hispanic. Rep. Greg Casar, the Democrat who currently represents the district, is seeking reelection in the Austin-based 37th.

Garcia, who campaigned as a moderate, law-and-order Democrat, leaned on nearly two decades of experience with the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, including stints as a SWAT hostage negotiator and as the agency’s public information officer. He will enter the general election as the underdog in a district drawn to favor Republicans.

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